Frogs are seen by some scientists as a barometer on the environment. When their populations are decreasing, there is concern that the environment is under stress, as it is believed that frogs require a clean environment in which to live.
Here are a compilation of interesting facts about frogs from all over the world, collected from many different sources.
1. There are over 4000 species of frogs in the world, though only 88 species in the US and Canada. They are all over the world, except for Antarctica and Iceland.
2. Frogs have smooth skin, and long legs to help them leap. Toads have drier warty skin and short legs, and they move by crawling or hopping rather than by leaping. Technically, though, toads are just a type of frog, but a species that man is trying to eradicate in Australia.
3. The smallest frog in the world is from Cuba, and is only 1/2" (or 12 mm) long. The largest frog in the world is from West Africa and is about 12 inches (or 300mm) long.
4. Most frogs lay their eggs in water or moist places (as do toads). The red-eyed tree frog from Central America lays its eggs on leaves that are over the water. When the eggs hatch, the tadpoles fall into the water below.
5. Some frogs lay as many as 25,000 eggs while others may lay as few as 4. The color of eggs vary.
6. Because frogs have eyes and nostrils that are on the tops of their heads, they can see and breathe while the rest of the body is under water. Adult frogs breathe with lungs, but also absorb oxygen through their skin.
7. Tadpoles breathe through gills while adult frogs breath through crude lungs and also absorb oxygen through their skin.
8. Some types of frogs have a round iris in their eyes, but some have horizontal slits, some have vertical slits, and some are even triangular or heart-shaped.
9. Frogs do not drink water but absorb it through their skin.
10. Frogs come in all colors. Green tree frogs are found in Asia. Most frogs can change their color somewhat to match their surroundings.
11. Native American and Australian aborigines believed frogs brought rain.
12. In Japan frogs are symbols of good luck.
13. In India frogs personified thunder.
14. In China it was not the Man in the Moon but the Frog in the Moon. In a lunar eclipse the frog swallowed the moon!
15. In ancient Egypt, frogs were symbols of resurrection and were even mummified with the dead.
Frogs are amazing animals, in that they start as eggs, become tadpoles and later grown frogs. They are revered in some cultures and replicas are collected by people all over the world.
